After qualifying for the Olympics, Tanya Watson still had another battle to fight and a hill to climb by competing in the diving semi-final of the Games.
Having booked her spot to Tokyo after scoring 271.85 in the preliminary round of the 10m Platform at the FINA Diving World Cup and finishing in 16th position, the 19-year-old advanced to the next round.
The Southampton native just missed out on the subsequent final by two points, but her enormous performance and achievement to get there cannot be understated.
Paving the way by becoming the first woman to represent Ireland in a diving competition at the Olympics, her specialty lies in the 10m platform.
Some of her Olympic goals consisted of staying healthy, working out, and making it to the finals, but she went above on beyond that to inspire the next generation.
Growing up, Watson participated in lots of sports, but always came back to gymnastics.
From there her love affair with diving began after she was asked to try out for the team at her school at age 11.
Tokyo 2020: ‘I was just so overjoyed to be there’ – Tanya Watson reflects on her Olympics experience #olympics #tokyo2020 #RTESport
📺 Watch live – https://t.co/b2OI4OoWVJ
📱 Report – https://t.co/H2SbGY2UM4 pic.twitter.com/56Tn9AMoHU
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 5, 2021
And the rest is history.
For future divers who want to learn but are scared to compere, Watson encourages them to face their apprehensions in the midst of adversity as “fear is a good thing.”
“I encourage people to try it because I refused as child to jump off a high board at all. Now, I’m a platform diver.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWDPoK4ymH8